Five Insights from Accelerated Grantmaking for COVID-19 Response and Recovery Data Initiatives

by Keely Hanson and Jake Cowan

A publication of the Local Data for Equitable Recovery Resource Hub

During this challenging year, philanthropy has taken critical steps to mobilize and deploy resources outside of traditional grantmaking. For example, more than 640 funders signed a pledge to streamline their grantmaking processes and many others established rapid response funds for communities across the country. These funds are supporting frontline organizations providing critical services, advocacy for policy changes, and reinforcement of public health systems to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, among other efforts.

Given lessons learned from the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP)’s experiences with crises, local governments, philanthropy, and nonprofits urgently need assistance accessing and interpreting data for decision-making in fast-changing situations. Early in the pandemic in the US, NNIP Partners exchanged information about requests for data from local groups working to mitigate COVID-19’s effects on their communities. To help meet this local demand, the Urban Institute worked together with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Annie E. Casey Foundation to launch two invitation-only, rapid-response funding initiatives to accelerate and expand local data access and capacity for more equitable and effective COVID-19 responses.

RWJF and Urban collaborated to select and fund 17 projects that are engaging with their communities to create, analyze, interpret, and translate data for local audiences making decisions about COVID-19 response. The program drew upon funds already earmarked for programs related to data for community health. The initiative was announced in May 2020 and moved quickly to initiate a request for proposal process in June and deliver funding to communities in July. Projects address affordable housing, workforce development, transportation, child care, and food security — displaying the importance of an intersectional approach to COVID-19 recovery. In addition, Urban worked with the Annie E. Casey Foundation to award grants to three NNIP Partners to encourage young people to share their perspectives, set priorities, and consider solutions for recovery.

Based on experiences from these two programs, the Urban team offers the following guidance for developing similar accelerated grantmaking initiatives. These guidelines represent the necessary anchors for supporting local, equity-centered COVID-19 response and can inform philanthropy’s response to crisis more broadly, now and in the future.

1. Accelerate the grantmaking selection and award process. In grantmaking, the average time between the grant application and notification of award can regularly range between four and six months (PDF). The premise of these grant initiatives was to get funding into the field quickly, with the time between application and notification reduced to as few as two weeks. Achieving this timeframe was possible because the foundation teams and Urban staff had an established collaboration, and the team coordinated with the foundations’ grantmaking processes early in designing the initiatives.
2. Partner with existing networks and organizations with a track record of data-driven work in their communities. The grant opportunity was limited to networks already established in our area of focus, ones that had knowledge of local issues, preexisting relationships with their audiences, and the capability to act quickly. This minimized the burden of a comprehensive due diligence process. This choice also respected applicants’ limited time by only inviting organizations likely to be funded.
3. Center equity in our process and in the communities that ultimately received funding. The criteria specified projects that explicitly sought to address the immediate needs of adversely affected communities, particularly households with low incomes and communities of color. The request for proposals also asked for a plan on how people with lived experience would participate in proposed activities. The Casey Foundation grants specifically required engaging young people, who are too often left out of policy and program conversations that affect their families and neighborhoods.
4. Streamline application requirements. Applicants were not required to propose a new idea or initiative. Although many did, others sought funding to bring a COVID-19 response and recovery perspective to a project or initiative they were already implementing. In addition, RWJF only required the total amount requested (not a detailed budget) in the grant application.
5. Provide timely and meaningful support. With a six-month timeline for the projects funded, grantees would only benefit from targeted, immediate technical assistance. Urban is delivering responsive, on-demand technical assistance while leveraging their subject matter and methodological expertise. Monthly webinars enable grantees to hear about each other’s progress and share their experiences. Our new resource hub will help elevate the grantees’ stories to a national audience.

These guidelines should not be reserved just for times of crisis. The pandemic’s impacts and the resulting economic crisis will be felt for years to come and setting up applicants for success with minimal burden is good practice at any time. Funders should identify what they have learned from funding in this moment that can be incorporated into regular practice.

Another initiative highlighted in a recent Urban report illustrates the need to balance speed, equity, and impact in grantmaking during a crisis. The Greater Washington Community Foundation learned that finding this balance can be a messy process. Under severe time constraints to respond to community needs, the Community Foundation met various priorities and imperatives (including speed) not by choosing one over another, but by finding a balance among them. Ultimately, the successful aspects of their COVID-19 response came from the ability to adapt, learn from mistakes and past experiences, and listen to stakeholders and peers.

Ultimately, the successful launch of the two accelerated grantmaking initiatives underscores the importance of decisive leadership and maintaining a few constant values and priorities as a guide. For this effort, it has meant centering equity and what frontline organizations need to contribute to community efforts during the COVID-19 crisis. These key values of flexibility and responsiveness, partnerships and trust, and leadership and vision can guide future philanthropic efforts to respond, recover, and rebuild during and after a large-scale crisis. The Urban team looks forward to sharing more lessons on the results of the grantmaking process in the spring after the grants have concluded.